Gun Control 2013: Harry Reid's Anti-Gun Bill is a Total Waste Of Time

On April 8, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R- Ky.) announced that he planned to join a Republican filibuster of the Democrats' anti-gun bill if Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) brought it to the floor for a vote. Meredith Shiner of Roll Callreported on April 9 that Reid planned on having a test vote in preparation that Senators Pat Toomey (R- Penn.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) could hash out a deal that could bring enough Republicans over to invoke cloture. As of now, it's unlikely Democrats have the sixty votes needed to break a GOP-led filibuster, and that's a good thing. This new gun control bill is a waste of time.

The one thing we've learned over the past four months is that we have enough gun control laws on the books. It's only a matter of enforcing them better. Support for stricter gun laws, despite pervasive advocacy on behalf of the liberal media, has only declined. CBS News reported on March 26 that only 47% of Americans want stricter gun laws. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's ban on assault weapons wasn't even included in the bill, but was left open to be offered as an amendment. It barely received 40 votes in support. That means a significant number of Democrats rightfully rejected the measure.

So, the new bill doesn't have a ban on assault weapons, or limitations on the size of magazines. The only thing in limbo rests with expanding background checks, which isn't an issue. We've all heard the talking point concerning 40% of all gun purchases being conducted without a background check. This is an abject lie. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post even called out Obama for peddling this misinformation last week. The 40% myth is based on a shoddy study that's two decades old.

John Lott, an economist, wrote in National Review in December to clear up these falsehoods disseminated by the left.

"The number of federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) today is only a fraction of what it was. Today there are only 118,000; while back in 1993 there were over 283,000. Smaller dealers, many operating out of their homes, were forced out by various means, including much higher costs for licenses.

"If you include these transfers either through FFLs or from family members, the remaining transfers falls to 11.5 percent."

So, there you have it. FFLs are required by law to conduct a background check on all firearm purchases, even those from across state lines. Again, the issue rests with better enforcing current laws, which is something Chicago should consider regarding their homicide epidemic. If a filibuster is the only way to kill this farcical gun control push by the Obama administration, I have no problems with that. Even with the Newtown wind at their backs, the anti-gun left lost, and will continue to lose in their quest to eviscerate the Bill of Rights. There's a reason why Democrats backed off Second Amendment issues after 2000. If Al Gore hadn't tried to out-gun control former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) in the Democratic primaries, he would've been elected president. It's time liberals let this issue go. They've lost, and Obama has once again wasted valuable political capital and time on an issue that is unrelated to jobs. Then again, I'm not sure if he's serious about rebuilding the economy.

UPDATE: According to Politico, Sen. Harry Reid has filed a cloture motion, with a vote to be taken place on Thursday. Democrats feel that they have enough votes to beat a Republican filibuster. Manchin and Toomey still working on a deal, with Manchin telling the press that they hope to be "at the point where we can finalize everything" by tomorrow.